Super Vir-Tu-Ron II: The New Warriors
by Aaron12
Summary: Kim and company find themselves making a return trip to the online land of Everlot to stop a shadowy entity from unleashing Frugal Lucre's internet-destroying virus. But being forced into battle through the experimental "Immersion Caps", they're unable to fight the way they're used to and their enemy has tricks of his own. Can Team Possible win the day without losing their minds?


AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well folks, I sincerely hope none of you thought I was dead, since it has been a while since my last fanfic posting. I know I resolved last year to stop making my fics so few and far between and at first, it seemed like I was well on my way to doing that. But then, I ended up getting so tied up in my work on DeviantArt that things just flew completely off the rails. However, this year, I believe I have a new, more disciplined approach that will allow me to make last year's resolution a reality for this year.

For those of you who haven't read my stories before, you might find yourselves asking a few questions as to who's doing what where and why. For those answers (and a lot more), feel free to check out my earlier stories in this series. The titles are as follows...

"Decisions, Decisions"  
"The More Things Change..."  
"Bonnie Double"  
"Home(s) Away From Home"  
"Monkey Power, American Dragon"  
"Far from the Tree"  
"The Possible Substitution Squad"  
"Swimming in Circles"

Well, enough of my ramblings. Enjoy the show (I know it's been a long time coming) and know that there will be others sooner than later.

Kim Possible  
Super Vir-Tu-Ron II: The New Warriors  
By Aaron

How long had this been going on? Hours, it seemed. He began to wonder if this battle was ever destined to end. For a moment, just for a split second, he weakened. He actually considered running away. If he were to lose here,…

But what would become of the others? They were his friends. They'd been together for what seemed like forever, through some of the most intense battles imaginable. And this certainly had to be their greatest yet. Only a handful of others before them had accomplished what they were on the verge of doing. To fell a Legendary EbonWing Dragon…legends had been made on far less.

But then, he found his gaze staring back into the face of their foe. Its towering frame, the enormous maw with rows of jagged teeth, scales black as night with blood-red tips and wings so massive they blocked out the sun. And as it's demonic screech once more echoed in his ears, the fear crept back inside him.

"Hey! HEY!" a voice called to his side, causing the young warrior to turn and see the wizard standing next to him, shouting over the sounds of the battle. "Don't lose focus now! Not when we're this close!"

"Right!" the warrior answered back, regaining his focus.

"Emmy, I'm tapped out! Do you have any more healing potions!" the wizard shouted to the Elvin warrior to his right.

"I'm out, too!" the Amazon Elf shouted back. "And I don't have enough energy to cast any healing spells, either!"

"Then we're just going to have to dig in!" the wizard announced. "Everyone hit it with your strongest attacks, one final push to the finish!"

"Okay! I've beensaving just the thing for a moment like this!" shouted a knight on the far end, pulling out a massive golden club before leaping towards the beast.

The knight's movement instantly caught the dragon's attention, turning towards him. But it wasn't enough to counter the knight, who swung with a wild yell and slammed his club squarely against the side of the dragon's head, sending it collapsing to the ground.

"Yes! A critical hit!" the warrior cheered enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah, the sacred mace of Norn Keep!" the knight declared proudly. "And to think, you guys laughed when I jumped on buying this at the Underground Market!"

"I want it stated for the record that I did NOT laugh, okay?" the wizard argued. "I just didn't see the point in you spending all that Gold on something you couldn't even use yet."

"Well, I can use it NOW," the knight replied, still pleased with himself as he flipped the club in the air before catching it. "Who doesn't see the point NOW?"

Unfortunately, the knight's boasting proved premature as the dragon struggled to its feet, throwing back its head and letting out a deafening roar that seemed to echo for miles around. But the dragons bellow had an unexpected secondary effect as the entire party found itself frozen in a state of paralysis.

"I…I can't move!" the Elf warrior cried out. "I didn't know it could do that!"

"I don't think ANYBODY did!" the wizard exclaimed. "It must have a last-ditch ability! That may be why no one's ever beaten one yet!"

"But that's not fair! We already HAD it beat!" the knight protested.

"It must still have one final sliver of health left!" the warrior shouted back in a panic.

"Aw man, I HATE it when that happens!" the knight complained.

All seemed lost as the dragon lurched forward toward the stunned party, still struggling to move. But just as it opened its giant mouth to launch a blast of searing flame, the clouds overhead began to swirl violently. And a bolt of lightning streaked from the sky, striking the dragon in the head and sending it thundering to the ground in defeat.

"What was THAT?" the wizard exclaimed as he and the rest of the party finally managed to move and take a look around.

"Up there!" the Elf announced, pointing up to a rocky cliff face, where a shadowy figure stood, concealed behind a black robe. A moment later, she and the rest of the party as the stranger leapt down to join them.

"Hey, what was THAT all about! You cuttin' in on OUR win?!" the knight was quick to complain.

"He just saved our butts, man," the warrior argued.

"Yeah, after he sat back and let US do all the grunt work so he could ride an easy win and get the credit!" the knight shot back.

"Look, I don't care what HE says. I'M glad you came along when you did," the wizard remarked, offering up his hand to the stranger. "And you are…?"

The mysterious figure spoke not a word, but merely offered a sinister chuckle in reply. Before anyone else knew what was happening, his staff began to glow before unleashing a blinding light which covered the entire valley in a haze of white…

* * *

ERROR XX-XXXX-XXX

A COMMUNICATION ERROR HAS OCCURRED

PLEASE RE-CONNECT YOUR INTERNET

"What?!" a punk-dressed teen girl exclaimed from her desk, her brown hair dyed a jet-black complete with red tips on her bangs, black lipstick, a nose stud and multiple ear piercings.

Adjusting her glasses, she stared at her Everlot identity of "Emmy-Zon006" and proceeded to reset the game's connection. Hopefully, she could get back to her party before they left. But no matter what she tried, she couldn't restore her game. Hoping that she could find an answer for her predicament online, she immediately opened up her web browser to see if she could explore the error. But the browser opened, another error message appeared on the screen indicating that her connection might have been lost.

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding," she uttered, her voice a mixture of annoyance and dread.

* * *

"What just happened?!" a slightly younger redheaded boy with freckles and a blue blanket tied around his neck like a cape.

* * *

"Oh, nonononononono. This CAN'T be happening," a husky teenage boy groaned from underneath his Viking helmet, his desk surrounded by bags of chips and empty soda cans.

* * *

"Mom…something's wrong with the computer!" a 12-year-old Latin boy called from the computer room of his home, after trying several times to reset the game's connection.

* * *

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

* * *

"Oh, take it," Zita sighed as she slapped her cards down on the table in Felix Renton's kitchen.

Ron simply shrugged as he lay his own cards down and slid the betting pot over to him from the center of the table. Even if he and Kim were playing their friends for only a few handfuls of pocket change, the rest of the table couldn't help but be surprised at how well he was doing that particular Poker Night. So much so that Monique couldn't help sliding up next to him and taking a quick peek at his last hand.

"Whoa," she remarked with a wide-eyed stare. "Well, I'll say this much. You're getting a WHOLE lot better at bluffing, I can tell you that."

"What are you talking about? That's a Flush, isn't it?" Ron replied innocently.

"Uh, Ron? You know a Flush has to be all the same suit, right?" Monique answered awkwardly. "Yeah, you've got four clubs there, but ONE of those is a SPADE."

"Really? Well then what's the point of calling the hand 'all blacks' or 'all reds'?" Ron asked, causing everyone else at the table to hang their heads and groan while Kim could only lay her head on his shoulder in chuckle in partial amusement.

"Dude, if we took you to Vegas, I honestly don't know if you'd lose your shirt or walk out a millionaire," Felix commented, still shaking his head while Max could be heard laughing from the living room.

"Oh yeah, like I want to go through THAT again," Kim replied sarcastically as Zita found her eye wandering towards Max, who was reclining on Felix's living room chair, reading a book.

"Well…" Ron began to say, rolling his eyes briefly.

"Uh, guys? Why isn't Max playing?" Zita inquired, cutting Ron off. "I mean, he hasn't said anything, but I kind of feel like we're leaving him out, you know?"

"Sit down Max. Show everyone why you don't play," Kim responded dryly as she divided up her change.

Without so much as a word, Max walked into the kitchen, pulled up a chair between Felix and Kim and began shuffling the cards. After a moment of rapid shuffling, he quickly dealt out five cards to everyone at the table, including himself. From there, everyone but Max began inspecting their hands and rearranging cards around. But before the first round of bidding could even begin, Max immediately turned over his hand to reveal a Diamond-suit Royal Flush, much to the amazement of everyone but Kim and Ron.

"Gee, how did THAT happen?" he chuckled with a shrug.

"D'AAAOOOHHH!" Monique, Zita and Felix cried out, slapping their cards down and driving a giggling Max from the table with boos and hisses, popcorn and pretzels.

"That's why he can never go back to Atlantic City again," Kim noted, shuffling the cards and dealing out a new hand while Max conjured up his trademark cup of tea went back to his book.

"Yeah, well, at least HE can be explained," Felix remarked before pointing between Monique and Zita. "I don't know HOW we're losing to THIS guy."

At that moment, Monique and Zita found themselves glancing over to the stool beside them, behind what was clearly the biggest stack of change at the table. Just then, what appeared to be a standing hand of cards was lowered slightly to reveal Rufus, wearing a pair of sunglasses with a transparent sports visor and chomping on a pretzel stick. Looking over at Felix, he tossed a deadpan stare for only the briefest of moments before instantly ducking back behind his cards.

"Well, what can I say? The little guy gets pretty competitive," Ron replied with a shrug while Kim returned her attention to the game, carefully examining her options.

"Let's see…I think I'll…UAAH!" Kim's words were cut off with a yelp as her chair suddenly flipped around into the floor, only to flip back up with her mysteriously no longer sitting in it.

"Kim?! WHOA!" Ron exclaimed, only to have no time to react as the chair he was sitting caused him to vanish in the same fashion.

Rufus immediately leapt from his stool, scampered across the table and landed on Ron's chair, looking it over and chattering worriedly. But a split second later, the chair flipped back once again and Rufus, himself, was gone.

"What happened?!" Max exclaimed as he dashed into the kitchen, only to find Kim, Ron and Rufus gone and Felix, Monique and Zita regarding him with confused looks.

"Oh, you've GOT to be kidding…," Max muttered before a burst of glittering smoke instantly enveloped his body. The smoke then drifted down through the cracks in the floor and a moment later, Max, too, had disappeared, leaving the others even more perplexed.

"So…I guess they fold, huh?" Felix stated, sharing wide-eyed stares with Monique and Zita.

* * *

"Oof!"

While everyone else was trying to figure out what was going on, Kim found herself flopped on a chair inside a large, clear capsule. A shrieking Ron was immediately dropped right in after, landing in another chair facing her. And a moment later, Rufus came falling in, bouncing off of Ron's head before landing in his hands.

"Uh-oh, hang on," Kim remarked cynically as she looked around, instantly recognizing the setup they suddenly found themselves in. "We're in for a ride."

No sooner said than done. A split-second later, the capsule she and Ron were sitting in immediately rocketed off down a clear, winding tunnel. Ron was so caught off-guard he couldn't even form the presence of mind to scream as the capsule shot through the tunnel with the speed of a comet. Several disorienting seconds later, the capsule finally slammed to a halt just inside a pair of twin doors which immediately opened.

"Kim Possible…an absolute pleasure, as always," an all-to familiar voice could be heard as Dr. Director, head of Global Justice, stepped into view through the haze of settling smoke and steam.

"Dr. Director," Kim replied, stepping out into the underground hall of Global Justice while Ron had to brace himself against the doorway to catch his breath. "You know, I think our friend is going to have a few choice words to say about you guys booby-trapping his home."

"Have NONE of you people ever heard of a PHONE?!" Ron blurted out in exasperation.

"Our apologies," Dr. Director replied straightforwardly, "But this generally proves to be more efficient."

"I'll take THAT bet…," Ron muttered in Kim's direction as Rufus continued to shiver in his hands.

Before the conversation had a chance to continue, however, the twin doors for the capsule tube that Kim and Ron just emerged from exploded off their foundations. But as every agent in Global Justice sprang into action at the sounds of alert, Kim couldn't help but take notice of the glittering smoke billowing from the within the tube.

"Oh no…," she groaned with a hint of dread as Max emerged from the twinkling haze in his standard mission suit, staring down dozens of GJ agents with their Stop Watches pointed squarely back at him. But her concerns were immediately interrupted as Dr. Director stepped in front of her agents and quickly held up her hands.

"Stand down, everyone" she announced calmly before regarding Max with a coy smirk. "Believe me, he'd only embarrass you."

"You…," Max grumbled, narrowing his eyes from behind his glasses and shaking his head towards Dr. Director as the Agents all returned to their business. "I knew it…"

"Wait a minute. YOU know Dr. Direct…oh, what am I saying? Of COURSE you do," Kim responded, throwing out her hands and rolling her eyes. "I have GOT to stop asking that question."

"Maximillion assisted us as a…consultant…on an investigation Global Justice conducted several years ago," Dr. Director explained simply.

"Which is just a polite way of saying that I did all the work FOR them," Max added sarcastically.

"I sense a bit of tension," Ron observed as Rufus nodded.

"I'm guessing things didn't go that well," Kim had to agree.

"Things WENT fine. The problem was it was only supposed to be ONE TIME," Max replied, tossing a harsh look Dr. Director's way. "I came for the plush leather seats and the free shrimp cocktails. I didn't think SOME people would take it as a LIFETIME COMMITMENT."

"I beg your pardon, but Global Justice hasn't approached you to work a mission in YEARS," Dr. Director argued, crossing her arms sternly.

"Not for any lack of trying on YOUR part, I might add," Max protested. "If I wasn't staying one step ahead of you people every second of the day…"

"Oh don't flatter yourself. We've known where to find you for MONTHS!" Dr. Director shot back.

"Okay, time out!" Kim interrupted, placing herself in between Dr. Director and Max, "I'm pretty sure you guys called me and Ron all the way here to GJ for something a little more important than THIS."

"Point taken," Dr. Director agreed, before tossing another disapproving glance in Max's direction. "Though you probably want to hear this, too, since it may concern YOU, also."

Max remained standoffish, but a part of him couldn't help but raise an intrigued eyebrow as he followed Kim and Ron behind Dr. Director. But as they reached the main computer terminal, the screen showed that another party was also in attendance.

"Wade?" Kim noted curiously.

"Hey guys. Sorry to get you out of your card game," Wade replied. "But Dr. Director was talking to me and she thought this was something you guys should be in on."

"Over the past week, 500 people around the world had the internet connections on their computers completely wiped out," Dr. Director explained, calling up a map on another computer screen that was lit up like a Christmas tree. "It was so severe that they actually had to completely replace all their ISP information to get back up and running."

"Hold on…we're talking five HUNDRED computers…out of how many BILLION on the planet?" Kim remarked, still unsure what they were being asked to do. "Does this really qualify as an earth-shattering sitch?"

"Well, stranger things HAVE happened," Wade admitted with a shrug. "But what's weird about THIS is that at the time their connections crashed, all 500 of them were doing the exact same thing."

With the press of a button, Wade's image on the main screen was replaced with a familiar image, complete with digital music piping through the Global Justice headquarters.

"Oh not again…," Kim muttered, running her hand down her face.

"They were all playing Everlot?" Ron noted.

"Most of the people who got zapped reported seeing a mysterious figure in black, right before their connections got fried," Wade went on. "No one knew if it was a player or some kind of hacked NPC, but everyone was pointing their fingers at the game's Developers. Everlot Inc. issued a public statement yesterday, insisting they're not to blame."

"However, just a few hours after they made their announcement, this message was streamed over the public forum on the game's website," Dr. Director added, calling everyone's attention to a third screen, which displayed a video of a shadowy figure from what appeared to be a land in Everlot.

"This is but a sample of my UNSTOPPABLE power!" the digitally altered voice announced as a sequence of numbers scrolled on the bottom of the screen. "This is my announcement to the world! You have a MAXIMUM of two days to stop me or the information superhighway will crash! That is…if you think it's POSSIBLE!"

With that, the character on screen broke into a wicked laugh before raising his staff. And after unleashing a blinding flash of light, the screen immediately went blank.

"This was the last transmission," Dr. Director continued. "A second after he produced that light show, the entire Everlot website crashed."

"Well, whoever it is, that flash wasn't what did it," Max noted. "That's just a simple light spell. Anyone in the game can learn it. My guess is he probably used it for a little bit of razzle-dazzle to make himself look powerful."

"And he plays Everlot, too…of course he does," Kim muttered through her teeth. "I'm not asking, I'm NOT asking…"

"'The information superhighway will'…That sounds VERY familiar," Ron mused rolling his eyes thoughtfully.

"It should. You two stopped the guy who tried to do it the FIRST time," Dr. Director replied, before leading Kim and the others to an adjoining room and opening the heavy metal door. "I trust you all know each other."

"Hi guys!" an enthusiastic voice called out as Kim and Ron found themselves staring, wide-eyed, across an interrogation table at a cheesy grin and a shackled hand cheerfully waving back at them.

"Frugal Lucre?" Kim blurted out, whirling back to Dr. Director. "What is HE doing here?"

"He's agreed to help us put a stop to all this," Dr. Director answered. "The truth is, we have reason to believe that whoever's behind this is using the original virus HE created to destroy the internet three years ago. Granted, you may have prevented him from ACTIVATING it…"

"…But we never actually FOUND it," Kim chimed in, finishing Dr. Director's thought.

"Go ahead and tell them what you were telling us," Dr. Director instructed, turning her attention to Lucre.

"Okay look, it happened two weeks ago and it was the weirdest thing," Lucre explained, talking in his usual rambling way. "Two weeks ago, I was in my cell with this annoying blabbermouth…he says he's related to Dr. Drakken…personally, I don't see the resemblance…when one of the guards…his name is Chuck, by the way. Really nice fella…He builds model trains and volunteers at the local youth center on Sundays…"

"Francis! Focus!" Dr. Director snapped, slamming her hand on the table.

"Alright, alright! Shee…sue me for being a 'wide view' kinda guy," Lucre muttered before going on. "Anyway, two weeks ago, he comes to my cell and tells me I've got a visitor. Well, I don't know who'd be coming to visit ME…my own MOTHER'S never even showed up…but I'm not complaining. So he takes me into one of the visitor's rooms, the door opens up and…"

"Uh…Dude?" Ron asked, waving his hand in front of Lucre's face to get his attention when Lucre mysteriously stopped talking. "You…maybe want to finish the story? You kind of just trailed off, there."

"That's what makes it so weird," Lucre replied in confusion. "The door opened and…I don't remember."

"Uuuuuuhh huh. Listen, would you excuse us for just a moment?" Kim responded, ushering everyone else outside before closing the door and turning her attention to Dr. Director. "You're not actually BUYING this, are you?"

"We didn't HAVE to," Dr. Director answered. "We spoke to every guard at the prison and they all reported the same memory lapses he did. And if that wasn't enough, there was a 20-minute gap in the prison security feed at the exact same time. We think that whoever was in the prison to see Lucre that day got him to reveal where he'd hidden his original virus, then somehow erased his memory and took it for themselves."

"This whole game thing may appear petty and childish on the surface, but whoever's behind it is DEAD SERIOUS," Dr. Director continued. "And more than that…we think they did it to call the three of you out."

"How do you figure THAT?" Ron had to wonder.

"You heard what he said on that video," Dr. Director replied. "Emphasized a lot of unnecessary words, don't you think? 'My UNSTOPPABLE power'…? 'A MAXIMUM of two days'…? 'If you think it's POSSIBLE'…? And you saw those numbers at the bottom of the screen, right?"

"Map coordinates," Kim deduced. "They're setting up a meeting place."

"Exactly," Dr. Director pointed out. "Whoever is the brains behind this whole thing has got it out for the three of YOU. And they've gone to an awful lot of time and trouble to invite you guys to a party."

"Well," Kim responded with a shrug, tossing a smirk in Ron and Max's direction, "I guess that means we'd better get dressed for it."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Ron reviewed as Team Possible found themselves walking into the lobby of an office building. "This guy gets his hands on Francis' old virus to challenge us to a fight…and he wants us to meet him here at Everlot Inc.?"

"I'm not so sure it's HERE that he wants to meet us," Kim answered, uneasily. "I've got a bad feeling about this. Wade, you said those directions included a room number, too, right?"

"Yeah, it's on the 14th floor, in their R&amp;D Section," Wade replied. "Why?"

"Because I'm pretty sure I already know what we're going to find in there," Kim responded with a grim frown.

A few minutes later, Kim and the others found themselves at the assigned room. And as soon as they opened the doors, Kim could only let out a tiny sigh and hang her head at what they discovered within.

"I knew it. See anything familiar?" she groaned as they found themselves staring at three chairs, each outfitted with Everlot Inc.'s experimental "Immersion Caps". The very same devices that Malcolm Neevious…aka. "The Wraithmaster"…had used to trap Ron and Zita in Everlot, two years ago.

"Are those what I think they are?" Wade noted uncomfortably.

"Wait a minute. So…he wants to take us on…you know, actually…IN Everlot?" Ron thought out loud as the pieces slowly began to fit.

"Just a…minor…point of clarification," Kim wondered, turning her attention to Max. "If we went in there, you wouldn't be able to use your magic, would you?"

"Doesn't work like that. I'd have to follow the rules of the game," Max answered with a shrug. "What I can do out here doesn't apply."

"I'm guessing that's going to apply to your MMP, too," Kim noted, turning to Ron before an annoyed scowl crossed her face. "Well, that's just great…so if we do this, we're going to be going in there with no gadgets, no powers…and we're all going to be Level One guys against somebody who's going to have all the edges. Which means I'm going to be stuck as that little…pixie…fairy…thing again?"

"It's called a Spritekin," Wade corrected her, "And…not necessarily."

Neither Kim, nor Ron could respond to Wade's cryptic comment. They could only look at each other with a hint of confusion.

* * *

"Okay, downloads complete," Wade announced, having arrived on the scene some time later with a set of laptops, each hooked up to one of the Immersion Caps. "This should even the odds a little bit."

"I can't believe you actually put together Everlot characters for us," Ron noted with a hint of surprise. "Seriously, how cool is that?"

"Not so much," Kim answered dismissively. "But if it means an actual FAIR fight, I'll take what I can get."

"Actually, I can't take all the credit. Max helped a lot, too," Wade explained. "And after what happened to you guys the last time, it seemed like something to be prepared for. You can never be too careful, right?"

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Dr. Director wondered, her face appearing on another computer monitor. "I've been briefed on what this technology does and it's a little dicey. Besides, how do you trust that whoever this is won't just unleash the virus anyway?"

"That's why we need you to get Lucre to find it. He's the only one who knows what we're looking for," Kim responded as she took her seat. "We're already halfway through the two-day deadline. If we give this guy what he wants and keep his attention focused squarely on us, we might buy enough time for you to do that. And once you DO find it, all bets are off."

"I'd suggest Lucre start checking in the Everlot programming," Wade instructed. "All of this started there, so it's a pretty safe bet that THAT'S where the guy's stashed it."

"It's okay, buddy," Ron coaxed as he patted Rufus on the head, still whimpering with worry. "Wade's got us hooked up. You just sit back and watch us go."

"Are you sure you're going to be up to this?" Kim remarked as she turned to Max. "You know, being on the same level as us 'mere mortals' again?"

"Are you kidding?" Max responded with an amused smirk. "I just hope we got YOU guys up to a high enough level that you don't slow me down."

"Cute," Kim responded sarcastically as she prepared to slide her Immersion Cap on. "Okay…let's do it."

With that, all three slipped their Immersion Caps down as their eyes took on an eerie glow. And as their bodies went stiff, Dr. Director and Wade could only get to work and hope.

* * *

It took a few moments for Kim to recover from the initial white haze bombarding her senses. But when she finally did get her bearings, she found herself looking in the middle of a wooded valley, indicating that her mind was now inside the Everlot game world.

"Wow," she uttered, somewhat awed at the realism of the sight before her, "This place sure looks a lot different from the last time."

"Oh yeah, Everlot's been total HD for a few years now," Wade's voice sounded off behind her as Kim whirled around to see his wizard avatar standing in front of her. "Hope you don't mind. Max asked if I could tag along, too."

"Hey, the more, the merrier," Kim replied with a shrug. "Besides, I didn't really give you a chance to fill me in on exactly what kind of character you programmed in for me."

"You're an Amazon warrior from the island clan of Xenos," Wade explained. "They're the best-rounded female warriors in terms of strength, speed and agility. I also equipped you with a Damascus chain whip for offense and grappling. And I even found a Mirror Shield for you, created by the Dwarven Weaponers of the Crystalline Catacombs. It can deflect any magical attack."

"You couldn't maybe have found me some better clothes, instead? This is quite an outfit I'm not wearing," Kim responded, uncomfortably taking note of what she had on. The main part of her ensemble could best be described as a sheer silk mini skirt with a plunging neckline, just barely clinging to her body. In fact, it probably would have blown off of her almost immediately, were it not for the heavy leather belt holding it in place. Accentuating the look were gold bands around her wrists and biceps, heavy leather sandals with straps going up her calves and a gold band over her forehead.

"Sorry Kim. But for an Amazon, that's actually the most conservative outfit there is," Wade answered with a shrug. "There was some armor I could have gotten for you, but…that actually looked more like a swimsuit."

"Well, I suppose it's still better than only being an inch tall," Kim remarked, even though she couldn't help but sigh as she looked herself over again. "You just KNOW this game was designed by a bunch of lonely GUYS."

"Hey, looking good, KP!" Ron's voice sounded beside her.

Instantly, Kim turned around with a disapproving scowl. But her expression instantly changed as a few stray snickers of laughter blurted past her lips, despite her best efforts to hold them back.

"What?" Ron asked before finally looking around. "Hey, why is everyone so small? Why have I only got three fingers…?"

"…Why am I GREEN?"

Kim couldn't bring herself to answer, still stifling giggles. Instead, she held up her mirror shield so Ron could see what everyone else was looking at.

"AAAAAH!" Ron shrieked as he saw his reflection. While his face was more or less the same, the true shock came in the form of the green skin and the short tusks jutting out from behind his lower lip.

"You made me an ORC?!"

"We wanted to make sure you guys had races that would play to your strengths," Wade explained as Kim still tried to keep from laughing. "Subtlety is…not your friend."

"Personally, I'm just having flashbacks to that whole Henchco. muscle-enhancement thing," Kim noted with amusement, regarding Ron's muscular, armored frame. "I'm sorry, but that's just a look you've never been able to pull off."

"There! You SEE?" Ron protested. "SHE knows what she's talking about!"

"Well, I see everyone's found each other," Max's voice chimed in, causing everyone to look over and see a tall, lean fighter character with long, dark hair. He was dressed in sleek black leather with a rapier sword attached to his belt.

"Oh great, HE gets to look NORMAL!" Ron continued to object.

"Oh, would you stop?" Max argued. "Trust me, when you see what that body can do in a fight, you won't be complaining."

"Not to mention that we outfitted you with the power gauntlets of the Worbownd," Wade added. "It's an item that only Orcs can use and it more than DOUBLES your strength."

"Well, we're not going to test that, just standing around here," Kim remarked, grinding the debate to a halt. "We'd better get moving."

"Just…hang on a second," Wade interrupted. "I'm just wondering…are you guys, you know…okay? I mean, I'm not actually IN here with you. But I've heard what those Immersion caps are supposed to do. Does it actually feel…you know…REAL…in there?"

"Only one way to find out," Kim answered with a shrug, before grabbing Ron's face and kissing him deeply.

Ron was surprised at first, but it only took him a few seconds to get into the moment and begin kissing Kim back, while Kim put her arms around his neck and pulled herself up. The kiss dragged on for several moments longer, with both sides savoring it for all it was worth while Wade and Max simply rolled their eyes and shifted their gaze away. Until finally, Kim slowly pulled away, placing one more soft peck on Ron's lips for good measure.

"Okay, that wasn't bad. I mean it wasn't QUITE as good as the real thing, but it was really, REALLY close," Kim cooed affectionately, before flicking a finger against one of Ron's Orc tusks, "Although we're probably not going to be doing that again until you don't have THOSE anymore."

"Thanks a lot," Ron responded, tossing a dirty look in Wade and Max's direction.

"Then maybe you might want to hurry up, don't you think?" Max replied with a smirk. "Are we going or what?"

There didn't seem to be anything more that needed to be said. Despite the unusual circumstances, the fact remained that Team Possible still had a job to do. Without a word, the group set off in search of their mysterious challenger.

* * *

Seated in a darkened room, with only the glow of a computer monitor for light, a shadowy figure maintained a solitary vigil, hunched over his keyboard. A moment later, a connection icon appeared at the top of the Everlot screen, causing a sinister grin to slowly draw across his face as he reached over and clicked the button on his mouse.

A moment later, the mysterious strangers Everlot character, concealed by his black robe, appeared at the mouth of a dark cave in the center of a dying forest. Stopping just a few steps in as he entered, he raised his staff and struck the ground firmly three times, almost as a declaration of his presence.

"Our prey has arrived," his digitally altered voice announced to the blackness within. "I know I shouldn't be surprised that they have, but a part of me can't help but laugh at their utter foolishness."

At that moment, pairs of glowing eyes suddenly pierced the darkness. Cold and wicked, they merely regarded the shadowy figure with their silent gazes. The stranger, meanwhile, made his next words simple and direct as the menacing smirk suddenly disappeared from his lips…

"Tear them apart."

At that moment, all the remaining life in the forest exploded into a panic. Crows and snakes and small animals screeched, slithered and scampered and took to the skies, fleeing from the oncoming storm they could all sense was about to descend upon them.

* * *

"Uh, KP?" Ron asked as the team found themselves passing by a lush wooded area. "Not to be a downer or anything, but we've been walking for a while. Do we know how we're going to find this guy?"

"I'm not so sure we'll have to," Kim replied uneasily. "The truth is I've got a sneaky feeling HE'S going to find US."

At that moment, as if on cue, a green blob of energy burst from the thick foliage, heading straight towards Kim. Fortunately, Kim caught sight of the flash out of the corner of her eye and her finely honed instincts allowed her to leap out of the way, allowing the blast to slam into the ground harmlessly. What she didn't expect, however, was for her jump to be so powerful that she would end up flying in a high arc and land at least 20 feet away.

"Okay, wasn't expecting THAT. Definitely a bit of a learning curve there," Kim thought out loud. But at the moment, she had more immediate concerns, such as how that particular mass of energy looked so eerily familiar.

The answer to that question would come moments later as a group of attackers emerged from the brush. But the true shock was how each one was almost a dead ringer for one of Team Possible's old foes. Flapping overhead was a green Harpy which looked like a scraggly, feathered version of Shego with a glowing green pendant around her neck. There was a Shaolin warrior with a simian face looking ridiculously like Monkey Fist. And the third enemy was a shirtless, blue-skinned man looking exactly like Dr. Drakken. But that similarity quickly went vanished as he tapped the dark jeweled pendant around his neck, transforming him into a snarling, blue-haired werewolf.

"…oh boy…," was all Kim could mutter under her breath as the Harpy let out a deafening screech and the fight was on.

Leading the charge, the Harpy dove straight for Kim, her pendant firing streams of energy identical to Shego's plasma bolts, while the Shaolin warrior bore down on Ron and the werewolf made a beeline Max to slash at his rapier. Kim, however, was already gaining a sense of what her character could do and once again leapt out of the path of the Harpy's blasts. This time, Kim was able to utilize much more control, turning her jumps into a series of back flips, staying one step ahead of the barrage. But at the same time, she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere playing defense. Taking one giant leap into the air, Kim tucked her body into a backward roll while grasping her shield in mid-air. And as she landed, she braced herself as the Harpy bore down on her unleashing another volley of blasts. But unfortunately for the Harpy, each of her attacks struck Kim's mirror shield, forcing the bolts to be reflected back and explode into her. Dazed from Kim's counter-attack, the Harpy was still just barely managing to stay in the air. But that wouldn't be the case for long as Kim produced her chain whip, lashing out and catching one of the Harpy's winged arms. And with one arm, Kim heaved back, pulling the Harpy out of the air and slamming her body into the ground.

"Wow…that was so easy…I didn't even TRY," Kim mused in surprise as she marveled at the strength her character clearly possessed. "Maybe this body is good for something than just eye candy after all."

Meanwhile, the Shaolin Warrior was making his move, whooping and hollering as he unloaded on Ron with a rapid-fire hail of devastating punches and kicks. However, like the Harpy's attack on Kim, his assault met with no greater success as Ron merely stood on the spot, his towering Orc body seemingly unfazed by any of the scrawny Warrior's attacks.

"Dude…seriously?" Ron responded with a shrug after the Warrior wrapped up barrage with one massive kick to his bicep, which also clearly had no effect.

For a moment, the Shaolin Warrior could only stand in utter disbelief. But just as he was about to attack again, Ron was quick to respond, bashing him in the chest with a hard shove that sent the Warrior flying back, bouncing and rolling along the ground until he was finally stopped by slamming into a large tree.

"Whoa…," Ron uttered in amazement, the combination of his Orc character and the gauntlets clearly putting out more power than he was expecting. "Okay, SLOWLY beginning to turn the tide of public opinion."

But Ron's fight wasn't over yet as the Shaolin Warrior shook the cobwebs out of his head and appeared to attack again. But this time, Ron was in for a much different fight as the Warrior made a series of hand gestures. And a moment later, his body began to glow before suddenly growing in size. And within seconds, where the monkey-faced Warrior once stood, there was now a giant gorilla man in his place.

"Aaaaaand now we've got a problem…," Ron murmured, feeling slightly more uneasy as the Gorilla Warrior reared back and roared to the heavens.

"Ron!" Kim called out, preparing to run to his aid. But she soon had her own problems as the Harpy had also recovered from their encounter and swooped in behind her, grabbing Kim's shoulders with the talons on her feet and lifting her up into the air.

Struggle as she might, even Kim's newly acquired strength wasn't enough to break free from the Harpy's crushing grip. But when Kim chanced to look down and saw a deep chasm emerge over a set of small, rolling hills she realized immediately that she was going to have to do something fast.

"Oh…this is VERY MUCH not good," Kim remarked nervously as the Harpy cackled overhead, eagerly anticipating the opportunity to drop her to her doom in mere seconds…

"HAAAA!"

A familiar voice shouted out at that moment as Zita's Everlot character suddenly leapt from a nearby tree, delivering a flying kick into the Harpy's side, causing it to drop Kim prematurely. Thinking quickly, Kim lashed out her whip, catching the Harpy's ankle and swinging to a safe landing before pulling it out of the sky and sending it crashing to the ground once more.

"Zita?!" Kim exclaimed a moment later, focusing on her shock.

"Hey," Zita replied with a grin and a shrug.

"Okay, this is not a problem, I can handle this," Ron reassured himself the newly transformed Gorrilla Warrior pawed the ground and prepared to charge. "Now how am I going to handle this?"

Just then, a menu screen popped up in front of Ron's eyes, identical to a traditional Everlot menu. Outlining Ron's level and items, there was one item in particular that caught his eye.

"Cool! I know a spell! Well try this one for size!" he announced confidently before leaping into the air. "LET THE EARTH SHATTER!"

The moment the words escaped his lips, Ron landed, slamming his fist into the ground and expecting something wild and wonderful to happen. But when he finally looked around, he saw not the slightest thing different. And the Gorilla Warrior was still ready to bear down on him.

"OH, COME ON!" Ron shouted in frustration as the Gorilla Warrior surged forward with a loud bellow.

Just then, The Gorilla Warrior's foot stepped into a sinkhole in the ground, causing him to stumble forward. And as his head came down, something came up as Rufus, in his Everlot form of the Legendary "Tunnel Lord", burst up from the earth and slammed his fist into the Warrior's jaw, sending him flying backward.

"Rufus?!" Kim blurted out as Rufus turned to Ron with a wink and a "thumbs up".

"Wade asked if we could tag a long and give you guys a hand," Zita explained, as her actual form was seated comfortably behind a computer in Felix's house, with Felix and Monique hovering behind her. "Hope you don't mind."

"Well, I did say, 'the more the merrier'," Kim answered with a shrug as she and Zita turned to face the Harpy, who had once again risen to her feet.

With another piercing shriek, the Harpy charged forward, her pendant unleashing a barrage of energy blasts. But Kim was on the offensive as well, running toward the Harpy with Zita close behind, her Mirror Shield protecting them both from the relentless assault. But just as it looked like they were about to collide with one another, Kim caught the Harpy by surprise, dropping to the ground and sliding under her foot as she ran past. The momentary distraction allowed Zita the opening she needed as she leapt forward, striking the Harpy in the back of the head with the hilt of her sword as she passed through the air. All that was left to do was for Kim to clean up as she rolled to her feet, lashing the Harpy around the waist with her whip and spinning her around like a hammer throw before slamming her foot into the ground and sending the Harpy flying.

Meanwhile, Ron and Rufus were dealing with the Gorilla Warrior's fury. Focusing on Ron, The Warrior let loose with a flurry of wild swings, all of which Ron was fortunate enough to dodge or block. But that allowed Rufus to make his move as he hurtled from above, slamming his armored fists into the Warrior's head with enough force to sending him bouncing off the ground. Pressing the advantage, Ron surged forward, slamming his fist into the Warriors airborne body and sending him flying through the air to crash into the Harpy, who had just been thrown the opposite direction by Kim. With that, two of the attackers seemed to be well and truly down for the count.

"Kim!" Wade's voice caught everyone's attention as they whirled around to find him hiding behind Max, who was still holding the blue Werewolf at bay with his sword.

"Having fun?" Kim called over as Max seemed just barely able to counter the Werewolf's blurring strikes.

"Yeah sure, why not?" Max responded with a shrug in between parrying blows with his rapier.

"Kim, he's wearing an EbonMoon Pearl!" Wade exclaimed over the sounds of the battle. "It's how he maintains his werewolf form during the day!"

"You have to destroy it! It's the only way to change him back!" Zita shouted back.

"Tell me something I DON'T know!" Wade responded. "But he's moving too fast! We can't get close to him!"

"We need SOME way to slow him down, even if it's just for a second," Kim surmised.

Just then, a blinding flash, almost like a beam of reflected sunlight, streaked through the air and striking the Werewolf square in the eyes. Sightless and in pain, the Werewolf stumbled back and howled in agony, giving Kim and the others the opening they needed.

"Everyone, now! Destroy that pendant!" Kim ordered, seizing the moment.

Immediately, the entire team rushed in, but it was Rufus who reached the Werewolf first. Snatching the pendant from around his neck Rufus put it in his mouth and bit down hard, his giant teeth shattering the pearl and causing it to explode in his face. And while Rufus was sent sprawling to the ground, the Werewolf transformed back into its human form.

"Okay, not the way I would have done it. But I guess you can't argue with the results," Kim remarked as Rufus sat up, giggling in a daze.

The former Werewolf, however, could only respond to the force aligned against him with abject fear. Whimpering like a puppy, he immediately turned on his feet and dashed into the woods as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Okay, PLEASE tell me that was the last of them," Wade sighed, hopefully in relief.

But no such luck was to be had as the ground suddenly shook beneath their feet. A moment later, a line of trees suddenly smashed to the ground as a giant Cyclops emerged from the forest. But what was truly surprising about the towering new foe was its appearance. Of all people, it actually looked almost exactly like Duff Killigan, even down to a fur golf cap on its head.

Thundering towards Kim and the others, the monstrous Cyclops proved that it not only looked like Killigan, but it also had his mannerisms as he pulled one of what appeared to be many clubs from a large fur sack slung over its shoulder. It then positioned the club lower as if it was truly about to start swatting and the entire team like golf balls.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me get this straight," Felix noted, watching the action alongside Monique and Zita. "This is a Cyclops GOLFER?"

"Mmm hmm, I mean I know we're not talking 100% REAL reality here," Monique added. "But wouldn't you think DEPTH PERCEPTION would be an issue?"

"FOOOOOOOOOOOORE!" The Cyclops bellowed in a distorted digital voice, preparing to take a mighty swing. However, a swing was all it ended up taking as its club passed right through the air, not even coming close to striking Kim or the others and sending the Cyclops stumbling in a spiral.

"Yeah, I'd say the collision detection's just a little bit off on that guy," Zita remarked, looking as much in disbelief as Monique and Felix before her Everlot character leaped into action, producing a familiar rose-headed staff

"It's Ron's Aspen Power Wand of Newforest!" Wade exclaimed in surprise.

Before the Cyclops could regain its footing, Zita slammed the tip of the wand into the ground. At that same instant, an enormous mass of vines sprang up under one of the Cyclops' feet, disrupting its balance even more. That gave Kim and Ron the moment they needed. Scrambling up the vines, they reached the Cyclops' flailing foot. And with a mighty heave, their combined strength was enough to send the Cyclops' enormous bulk toppling to the ground. Its body falling out of control, the Cyclops tumbled down the rolling hills before finally rolling off the edge of the nearby cliff and plummeting into the chasm below.

"Oh, oh, OOOOoooohhh and that's a bad slice, DEEP in the bunker," Max narrated, quieting his voice like a golf commentator as the Cyclops' thunderous crash in the chasm echoed through the valley. "I don't think he's gonna be getting out of THAT one, Johnny."

"Hung on to a souvenir. Hope you don't mind," Zita remarked, gaining everyone's attention as she walked up with Ron's former wand slung over her shoulder.

However, Zita's attention became immediately diverted as she had a chance to see Ron up close in his Roc form. And as she finally had a moment to take it all in, she couldn't help but let out a burst of giggles. Her reaction instantly drew a response from Kim, who had to stifle her own laughter again while Ron could only roll his eyes in annoyance.

"Oh…I'm sorry Ron," Zita laughed as she tried to get a straight face back. "I just think that's really cute."

"Eyes forward, girl. He's already spoken for," Kim replied jokingly before turning her attention to more serious matters. "Well, we'd better keep moving before something else happens."

"But...are we any closer to finding out where we're going?" Ron asked with a shrug.

"Well, they all came from THAT direction," Kim answered, directing her gaze to where the former werewolf had fled. "And he ran BACK that way, too. So I'd say it's as good a place to start as any."

With no better leads, the team followed Kim's lead. And within moments, they were making their way through the forest, in pursuit of their quarry.

* * *

"YOU…LOST!?"

The shadowy villain's altered voice thundered through the black cave. The Drakken look-alike that was once a Werewolf, however, was unable to give any explanation and could only silently huddle on the floor in fear.

"How?! How is this possible?!" the stranger continued to rant, pacing back and forth at the mouth of the cave. "There is simply no way that they could have been at a high enough level to challenge even ONE of you, let alone all of you COMBINED! They shouldn't have lasted FIVE MINUTES!"

"Could they have done something? Come up with a way to give themselves enough power to survive in here?" he went on, his anger slowly giving way to panic. "Was I simply deluding myself, believing they would have just strolled into this situation, completely unprepared? Maybe I should activate the virus…end it now while they're still trapped in here…while I still have a chance…"

"…No…no it's too early to resort to that yet. I still have the advantage," the dark figure went on, gradually regaining his calm. "I suppose that's what I get for sending AMATEURS to do the job…"

"…THIS…calls for a PROFESSIONAL."

With that, the stranger tapped his staff into the ground. And instantly, the sand on the cave floor began to swirl around his feet. Within seconds, the mass of particles began to collect and form into a giant mass, lifting off the ground and towering overhead. And as the dark one took in the towering sight before him, another wicked grin found itself crossing his lips…

* * *

Eventually, Team Possible's trek led them out of the woods to the face of a cliff. After a quick scale down, they soon found themselves walking along a white, sandy beach. However, as Dazzled as Kim and Ron were by the pristine surroundings, Zita was a little too concerned to take in the sights.

"I'm not sure how much farther we can keep going in this direction," Zita warned. "It's pretty much a dead end beyond this point…literally."

"You mean…the dead forest of CadaverWood?" Wade asked, drawing a nod from Zita.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Kim replied with a shrug. "That sounds like as good a place as any for a local bad guy to set up shop."

Before the team could press onward, however, the sands under their feet began to shift and blow. Growing in intensity and speed, it quickly grew into a maelstrom that felt like a sandstorm crossed with an earthquake.

"Do the beaches here do this often?!" Ron hollered over the commotion.

"Uh, only like…NEVER!" Zita shouted back.

"Then we're going to assume this isn't a good thing!" Kim replied, readying herself for what was coming.

However, nothing could have prepared her for what happened next as it felt like the entire beach, itself, roared to life. The sands swirled into a large pillar, rising up and towering over the Party. But as the sand slowly began to mold itself into a shape, Kim and Ron soon found themselves in store for yet another shock.

"You look familiar! Do we know you?!" Ron called up as an enormous Sand Golem now stood towering over them.

The Sand Golem only responded with a deafening roar before diving into the ground and disappearing. But it was only a second or two of respite before it seemed as if the entire beach exploded under the team's feet, being lifted up into the sky by tentacles of sand. Instantly, the entire party went on the offensive, lashing at the appendages with all the weapons, strength and spells at their disposal. But any damage they were capable of was regenerating faster than they could deal it, as the Sand Golem had an entire beach with which to sustain itself. Before long, the entire Party was quickly wrapped and bound as the Sand Golem's head once again formed into view.

"I'm open to suggestions!" Wade called out, struggling to free himself with the others.

Desperately, Kim looked around, hoping for some way she could oblige. Just then, she happened to notice a stray rock tumble from a nearby cliff. Ordinarily a non-event, only this particular rock happened to create enough of a splash to spray water onto one of the Sand Golem's tendrils, causing it to dissolve away, without regenerating.

"Well…that's handy!" Kim remarked as she still struggled to move. "Now if there was just some way to take ADVANTAGE of it!"

Just then, a menu screen appeared before Kim's eyes, just like it had with Ron in their last battle. Upon a quick scan of the contents, Kim soon discovered that SHE knew a spell also.

"Well…that's handy," she noted as she managed to free one of her hands, raising it to the sky. "LET THE OCEANS RISE!"

Like Ron, Kim waited in anticipation, hoping that the spell would do precisely what the incantation implied it to do. Unfortunately, just like Ron, her efforts were met with disappointment as once again, nothing happened.

"Oh, come on! Seriously?!" Kim shouted in frustration.

The Sand Golem, meanwhile, chortled in triumph, preparing to drag the entire team down to bury them alive under the beach. But just as things looked hopeless, Kim looked out of the corner of her eye and saw another resource they might be able to use to achieve the same result.

"Hey! 'Tunnel Lord'! Time to live up to your name!" Kim called over to Rufus. "We need a water spout to wash this thing out!"

Rufus nodded with a digitally distorted grunt, tearing himself away from the Sand Golem's tentacles and burrowing into its body. For a moment, it appeared as though nothing had happened as Kim and the others were being dragged closer to their smothering fate. But a few seconds later, the Sand Golem began to shudder and shake, stopping its descent. Then, suddenly, a cheering Rufus exploded through the top of the Sand Golem's head, driven up by a geyser of seawater. And as the upper part of the Sand Golem's body exploded from the surging pressure, the rest of it slowly dissolved away to nothing, unable to maintain its form.

"Quick thinking, KP!" Ron cheered as the entire party managed to break free.

"Thank Rufus. HE did all the heavy lifting," Kim replied while Rufus simply shrugged and chuckled bashfully. "I was just lucky enough to notice that rock splash the water onto the Golem. If it hadn't happened to fall off that cliff the way it did…I have to admit, the developers of this game definitely pulled out all the stops if they threw in random elements like that."

"Uh…what are you talking about?" Zita wondered. "Kim, Everlot is 100% completely interactive. Nothing 'just happens' here. If something DOES happen to the environment, it's because somebody MAKES it happen."

"Really?" Kim responded feeling very confused.

At that moment, Kim found herself flashing back to their previous battle, when Max was fighting the blue Werewolf. The beam of light that blinded it had come from behind Max, but the sun was shining from behind the Werewolf's head. So where could that beam of light have come from? And now with that rock, which just happened to give Kim the hint she needed to win at just the right moment…? It was as if something was watching over them out there, providing just that little nudge to tip the scales in their favor at just the right moment. But Kim didn't have time to dwell on it. They still had a mission to complete.

"Come on. Let's move, before something else happens," she commanded, shaking herself out of her train of thought and leading the Party as they raced off the beach.

* * *

"Something's wrong…it should have been back by now," the shadowy figure muttered uneasily as he paced back and forth at the mouth of his cave, wondering about the Sand Golem's progress. "Could they have defeated it, as well? No…no, there's just no way…"

And yet, as the stranger looked towards the horizon, at the cliffs that surrounded the dead forest, part of him could feel that his suspicions were correct. Despite his disbelief, he knew…he just knew…that Team Possible had found some way to defeat the latest force he had sent against them. And as the belief began to sink further and further into his brain as certainty, a growing anger began to rise up inside him as he bellowed in rage, unleashing a torrent of flame that instantly incinerated all of the trees surrounding the cave.

"That does it! No more outsourcing!" the figure shouted, the glowing red eyes behind his hood shrinking to narrow slits. "It's time I put an end to this…PERSONALLY."

* * *

After just narrowly escaping the beach, Kim and the others found themselves scaling another set of small peaks before they found themselves on the outskirts of CadaverWood. Only one obstacle remained…a rotting rope bridge swinging delicately over a sheer chasm separating the two cliffs.

"Okay, everyone…step VERY carefully," Kim instructed quietly, taking the lead as the rest of the Party slowly made their way across the bridge, single file.

"Couldn't we have just…oh, I don't know…gone AROUND this?" Ron commented nervously as the bridge began to sway and creak under the Party's weight.

"There IS no way around this," Zita replied. "This bridge is the only way in or out of CadaverWood."

"Oh, I see I see I see," Ron responded sarcastically. "So naturally, they could afford to cut those frivolous little corners like stable design, sturdy construction…"

At that moment, Ron's words were cut off as a wave of flame tore across the cliff on the Cadaverwood side of the bridge, catching everyone by surprise. A moment later, the flames vanished as the dark stranger appeared into view.

"So…THIS is how you managed to get this far," he observed, taking note of everyone's individual Everlot character. "I suppose congratulations are in order…but you should know I'm not that good a sport."

"Oh, we know more about you than you think," Kim replied with a smirk. "Although I have to admit, it took a lot longer for you to make an appearance than I thought it would…Le Fay."

Kim's declaration came as a shock to Ron, Rufus, Wade and Zita. But the true astonishment came a moment later, when the stranger simply smirked and tossed back his cloak and hood. Standing before the team was a tall thing stranger with short, blond hair and a long wooden staff. He was also wearing a black version of the very same bladed armor that Le Fay wore in their first encounter, when the spirit possessed the body of archeologist, Maria Novak.

"Well, I suppose that IS worthy of SOME measure of reward," the Everlot character of Le Fay remarked, his eyes glowing wickedly. "How about giving you the opportunity to make your maker?!"

With a wave of his staff, Le Fay unleashed another wave of flames, setting the ropes on his side of the bridge ablaze. Before anyone else could react, the dry brittle ropes snapped away, causing the bridge to collapse. And Team Possible was sent plummeting into the darkness of the chasm below.

But Kim wasn't about to be done in so easily. Grabbing her chain whip, she lashed out, catching it on the branch of an overhanging tree, Grabbing Zita's arm and rescuing her as well. Rufus, meanwhile, drove the claws of his hands into the Cliffside, grinding to a stop as Wade landed on his shoulders. But there was no one to help Ron or Max as they continued their drop into the canyon.

"No!" Kim cried out in panic, realizing she had no way to help them.

Just then, a fierce wind whipped up through the chasm, so strong, it actually caught the ropes from the collapsed bridge. Whipping around violently, the ropes actually caught the ankles of Ron and Max, causing them to swing back and slam into the wall on the other side of the canyon, much to Kim's relief.

"Ron! Max! Are you guys okay?!" Kim called over as Ron and Max used their tangled ropes to pull themselves upright.

"Still in the game, KP!" Ron responded as he braced one foot against the canyon wall. "Just meet us on the other side!"

With that, Ron pushed hard with his braced leg, launching into a powerful jump that sent him and Max flying over the mouth of the chasm. Max, quick to respond, pulled out his rapier and sliced at the ropes, cutting them both free and leaving them no longer tethered as they landed safely on the other side. Kim and Rufus quickly pulled themselves up as well, with Wade and Zita in tow. And within moments, Le Fay found himself standing alone with all of Team Possible staring him down.

"You know…I WAS perfectly willing to end this quickly. But you're just going to insist on making this slow and painful, aren't you?" Le Fay remarked before raising his staff. "PARALYDAZE!"

Before Kim or the others knew what was happening, they suddenly found themselves unable to move, frozen in place by sparks of electricity shooting around their bodies. And while Rufus, Wade, Zita, Monique, Felix and Dr. Director could only watch helplessly from their monitors, Le Fay merely savored his enemies' helplessness and laughed wickedly.

* * *

Before long, Kim and the others found themselves kneeling on the floor of Le Fay's dark cavern, each bound with heavy chains, staked to the ground. And Le Fay was feeling quite pleased with himself, having gained the upper hand at long last, while all those on the outside could only sit back and watch.

"Come on, we've got to get over to Everlot Inc.!" Felix exclaimed, wheeling out of the room with Monique right behind him.

"And do what?" Zita replied, stopping them both in their tracks. "Look guys, you've never worn those things before. I have. There's only one way to take them off and you guys don't have it."

"Zita, we can't just sit here…"

"Guys!" Zita shot back, cutting off Monique's argument. "I know, okay? But the fact is that they're in there and we're out here…"

"…There's nothing we can do."

Faced with the hard facts, Monique and Felix were forced to sigh with regret. In the end, they could only look on with Zita and hope that somehow, Kim and the others would find a way out.

* * *

"Dr. Director, isn't there anything we can do?" One of the Global Justice computer techs asked worriedly. "Perhaps we could hack into the Immersion Caps and find a way to…"

"Let them be," Dr. Director interrupted, looking up at the main screen somberly.

"But, Dr. Director," the tech argued, "If we do nothing, they could all…"

"Look at her face, Agent," Dr. Director replied sternly, regarding Kim's defiant expression in the game. "Those aren't the eyes of someone who looks worried. Kim Possible has a plan, take my word for it. She's merely buying us as much time as she can to find that virus so this 'Le Fay' can't use it. We have to seize this opportunity."

"You…do you recognize that location? Do you know where it is?" Dr. Director continued, turning her attention to Frugal Lucre.

"I…I think so," Lucre responded, halting his rattling on the keyboard in front of him. "Why?"

"He MUST have taken them there for a reason. I'll bet every eye patch I own that THAT'S where he stashed your virus," Dr. Director answered. "Search it, now…Every line of code for that location."

Doing as he was told, Lucre went back to frantically typing away. Dr. Director, meanwhile, continued watching the events unfold in Everlot.

* * *

"I have to admit, I was SLIGHTLY surprised when you called me by name back there on the bridge," Le Fay remarked, a hint of gloating in his voice as he enjoyed the sight of Kim and the others kneeling helpless before him. "I'm curious…exactly when did you figure it out?"

"I suspected almost immediately," Kim replied confidently. "I mean, really…gaps in security footage combined with widespread loss of memory? The only two people I could think of would be capable of doing that are either Max…or YOU."

"Well, if something's worth doing, it's worth doing right," Le Fay commented, no false modesty on his part.

"The second clue came when we found out that you wanted to face us here, in Everlot," Kim continued. "The only reason you'd want to do that was to take Ron and Max's magic out of the equation so it couldn't be used against you. And the only reason you'd want to do that is if you not only knew about their powers, but knew they could BEAT you with them as well."

"I'll admit, it threw me off a LITTLE bit when you came at us with henchmen that looked a lot like some of our old foes," Kim went on. "But then I remembered that brief period when you possessed Shego. At that moment, you knew everything SHE knew. I'm betting you used that knowledge to design those characters when you hacked the game to put them in."

"A little gift I possess," Le Fay declared smugly. "I retain the memories of any host I inhabit. Quite the handy side effect, wouldn't you say?"

"But of course, the dead giveaway was when you used that Sand Golem of yours to attack us back on the beach. That pretty well clinched it in the end." Kim concluded.

"And so, here we are…at the END of the game," Le Fay boasted, calmly strolling past each of his captives before finally stopping in front of Max. "True, I didn't really want to dirty my hands with this. But now that the moment is here, I can't help but feel a profound sense of satisfaction at being able to do away with you personally…especially HIM."

"Now there's a part of me that wishes this moment could last," he added with a smirk as he pointed his staff at Max's face and shrugged. "I can always save it as a game video. My only regret after that is that I won't get to see what happens to your REAL bodies."

"Kim…if you've got a plan, now would be a really good time to bust it out," Zita whispered. But she suddenly grew concerned as Kim's only response was silence.

"Kim? Please say you have a plan," Wade whispered worriedly. But once again, Kim gave no reply.

* * *

"She hasn't got a plan," Felix uttered in disbelief.

* * *

"Does she not have a plan?!" Dr. Director exclaimed, grabbing Frugal Lucre and practically yanking him out of his computer chair. "Hack into those Immersion caps, now! Find a way to get them out of there!"

"You can't just pull me off of one thing and throw me onto something else!" Lucre argued. "You've gotta give me a minute!"

"They don't HAVE a minute!" Dr. Director shouted in panic, whirling her head back up to the screen to see Max look up at Lefay and flash an odd smirk.

* * *

"Don't miss," Max instructed with a cocky tone in his voice.

"Don't worry. I won't" Le Fay replied, sounding every bit as confident as a ball of fire appeared from the tip of her staff.

"I wasn't talking to YOU!" a voice called out from behind.

Caught completely by surprise, Le Fay whirled around, only to be struck by a lightning bolt that sent him smashing through the cavern wall. Turning in the direction of the blast, Kim and the others saw what could only be described as a disembodied arm, floating in mid-air, holding a magical cane.

"Wade?" Zita remarked with amazement. "Could that be…?"

"The Invisible Cloak of ClearWind!" Wade exclaimed. "But…that item's been lost in Everlot for YEARS."

"Not lost. Just not used for a while," the voice sounded again before the cloak was turned inside out to reveal a tall, thin man, dressed in simple blue leather armor, his face concealed beneath a wide-brimmed wizard's hat.

"No way!" Wade blurted out. "Is that…?"

"Aurorus Magus!" Zita announced with sheer awe, "One of the Four Kings!"

"Who's…Aurora Borealis?" Ron asked in confusion.

"AURORUS MAGUS is a legend!" Zita responded excitedly. "You've heard of old school? Well, this guy is OLD-old school. He was one of the very first players of Everlot. He and three other players teamed up and became the Four Kings of Elsanor! They were supposed to be unbeatable!"

"And he still just barely made it here in time to help out," Kim chimed in with a sarcastic smirk.

"A little fashionable lateness never hurt anyone," the wizard replied lightheartedly as he raised his brim to reveal an instantly recognizable smirk.

"MAX?!" Ron blurted out in shock as he, Zita and Wade whirled around to see Fighter Max still chained beside them. "If that's Max over there…then who's HE?"

"Oh, that's Max, too," Kim replied, turning to Wizard Max with a smug look. "I'm guessing, duplication spell, right? And you're playing THAT character from somewhere else. My bet, probably at your place right now."

"Why Kimberly Anne, have I gotten so predictable, so fast?" Wizard Max replied in amusement, "Shame on me."

"Wait a minute. So…he's in AND out of Everlot right now?" Wade asked in confusion. "He's actually in TWO places at once?"

"How else do you think I find enough hours in the day?" Max replied. "If I have to sleep, I split off, one of us catches some Z's while the other one does whatever. And in the morning, we're back together, no muss, no fuss."

"He's been following us since this started, helping us out here and there…against the Werewolf…the rock at the beach…helping Ron and Max at the canyon," Kim deduced, looking over at Max's Fighter character. "I'm guessing he just used THAT one to keep up appearances for Le Fay until we found out where he was hiding in Everlot so we could locate the virus."

"Well, I HAVE been playing for a while," Fighter Max responded. "I've got a few characters I use…some stronger, some weaker…"

"And just where does THIS guy rank on that scale?" Zita wondered, becoming somewhat annoyed.

"Well, obviously, this isn't my STRONGEST guy," Fighter Max answered, shrugging and bobbing his head. "But I'd say he's…Well, no…no, this one's pretty much my weakest. I've only been playing him for a few months."

"Your WEAKEST?!" Ron shrieked in disbelief.

"What trickery is this?" Le Fay uttered in disbelief as he burst back into the cavern and saw the two Maximillions. "You…you're one of the…No…no, it's not possible. The Four Kings are a MYTH! They're not real!"

Incensed, Le Fay raised his staff to attack with a giant ball of fire. But Wizard Max was quick to respond, repelling Le Fay's attack with another bolt of lightning from his cane.

"Gee, not bad for someone who's not really here, huh?" Wizard Max chuckled in amusement.

"You think you're so clever, pulling this little stunt!" Le Fay snarled with contempt. "But you're forgetting that your mind is still in here! And I still have the virus! With just a few keystrokes…!"

"BUT…I'm betting I could incinerate you before you're able to do that," Wizard Max interrupted, pointing his cane towards Le Fay. "You can't activate the virus if you have no character in play here, can you? And since you need to be holding on to that staff of yours in the real world to keep your hooks into whoever you've possessed, I'm betting you're going to be VERY limited in what you can do with only one hand."

"What a dilemma," Wizard Max taunted with a smirk. "Go for the virus and hope you can trigger it in time…or fight for your life and hope you don't lose. You've only got time for ONE."

"Your move."

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Le Fay bellowed in rage, lunging towards Wizard Max with her staff. Max immediately blocked the sword with his cane and the fight was on.

"Uh…has anybody noticed that we're still chained up?" Ron asked simply as the battled raged in front of them.

"Oh, that's not a big deal," Fighter Max replied. "See, one thing you need to know about Fighter characters is that we're roguish types. Picking locks is a handy little built-in skill."

At that moment, Fighter Max's chains fell to the ground, freeing his hands. And a second later, the chains holding Kim and the others all fell away as well.

"How did you…?" Zita exclaimed, wondering how Fighter Max could have freed her chains when he was nowhere near her, "…never mind. Are we getting in on this fight or not?"

"Actually, we may have something better in mind," Kim replied, turning to Fighter Max. "You've got something in place for this, don't you?"

"What is she talking about?" Wade responded with confusion.

"Alright, look," Fighter Max answered, keeping his voice down and guidning the others behind a rocky outcropping while Wizard Max continued holding off Le Fay, "You heard about me and my friends, right? The thing is, we weren't the Four Kings because we were the highest level guys or had the best equipment. We were the Four Kings because we knew something. Something that only a handful of people who play have even heard of…"

"…The Apocalyptico."

"Apocalyptico? You mean the legendary One-Turn-Kill spell?" a shocked Zita responded while Rufus whistled in awe. "Most players don't believe it even exists."

"Oh, it's real. But it might as well not be, given how difficult it is to gather," Fighter Max explained. "The developers didn't want any one person to have it, so when they designed it, they created it in four parts. They then gave one of those parts to the first 100 people to beta test the game. My friends and I were three of those beta testers. When they got out of the game, I convinced them to transfer their pieces of the spell to me. I didn't want them to go to waste. But they only agreed if I promised to transfer the spells to a different party and not use them all myself. They didn't want me out there, meta-gaming."

"These four parts…they wouldn't happen to be like the spells Ron and I have been trying to use, but couldn't get to work, would they?" Kim chimed in, realizing where Maximillion's train of thought was taking them.

"I was wondering why you gave those to me to add to their characters," Wade blurted out in surprise. "Most people just treat them as junk spells and either throw them away or sell them off."

"See, what WE knew that most others DIDN'T was that the spell only works at all if all four incantations are used," Fighter Max continued. "By themselves, each part is useless. You can TRY and use one, but it won't do anything."

"I thought we just weren't using them right!" Ron exclaimed. "You're saying they actually WORK?"

"Let 'er rip and find out," Fighter Max replied with a smirk. "You and Kim both have one and I gave the third to Wade. That's why I asked him to tag along."

"PLEASE say you still have the fourth," Kim remarked sternly.

"Of course, I do. Just…not with THIS guy," Fighter Max replied with a shrug before slowly looking over to Wizard Max, who was still busy fighting Le Fay. "It's…with…THAT guy."

"Of course it is," Kim sighed dryly, rolling her eyes.

Meanwhile, Wizard Max appeared to be quite enjoying himself as his battle with Le Fay continued on. To his credit, Le Fay was managing to hold his own more evenly against Maximillion than he ever would have in the real world. But that still did nothing to change the fact that this was not the battle he wanted to find himself in. A point proven when, on their last exchange, Le Fay lunged with his staff, only to have Max slip his cane under his arm, whipping him around and slamming him into the cavern wall.

"I have to admit, from a purely gaming standpoint, you're not bad at this," Wizard Max stated with a shrug as Le Fay picked himself up. "I mean, I've seen better players out there. But hey, I've seen worse, too. But you're definitely in that…upper…top…50…percent…"

"Enough of your mindless prattling!" Le Fay bellowed in rage, "PARALYDAZE!"

At that instant, Kim jumped into the fray, placing herself between Max and Le Fay's spell. But her act was made less selfless by the fact that she had her mirror shield in front of her to absorb the magic and reflect it back, causing Le Fay to be paralyzed by his own spell.

"I'm sorry, can we wrap this up now?" she asked sarcastically. "Is that asking too much?"

"Oh alright," Wizard Max answered reluctantly as he went to join the others, his voice lowering to a mutter. "Seems a little anti-climactic, though, wouldn't you say?"

"Zita! Rufus! Now!" Kim shouted.

At Kim's command, Zita tapped the ground with the Aspen Power Wand of NewForest, causing a wave of vines to sprout from the ground, trapping Le Fay while he was still helpless. Rufus immediately followed up by burrowing into the cavern ceiling and releasing a hail of rock, burying Le Fay up to his neck in a pile of debris. Between his own spell, Zita's vines and Rufus' tunneling, Le Fay was completely helpless before Kim, Ron, Wade and Max, all standing before him.

"Let's do this," Kim announced. "LET THE OCEANS RISE!"

"LET THE EARTH SHATTER!"

"LET THE SKIES BURN!"

"LET THE HEAVENS QUAKE!"

Max's voice lowered to a hiss as he spoke the final incantation with a smirk. A moment later, a massive sphere of light, almost as intense as the sun itself, appeared before them, steadily growing in size…

"APOCALYPTICO!"

"Apoca…no. No, it can't be…not that, too…," Le Fay's voice trembled in fright, having never imagined that he'd be facing the wrath of Everlot's ultimate spell, first-hand. But his attention was soon taken up as Fighter Max leaned in towards him.

"You should be running," Fighter Max warned menacingly before a wide grin crossed his face. "Oh, that's right. You CAN'T."

* * *

"NononononononononononoNO…!," Le Fay shouted from his darkened room, his free hand moving straight to his keyboard as he watched the events unfold on his computer screen. "I…I have to activate the virus now! It's the only way I can still win this!"

* * *

"Got 'im!" Frugal Lucre announced triumphantly.

"You found the virus?" Dr. Director asked.

"Better than that," Lucre replied. "I've already transferred it out of the game…AND I found who was planning to use it…"

"…Want to know his address?"

* * *

ERROR - FILE NOT FOUND

"NOOO!" Le Fay bellowed into the monitor, realizing his trump card had just been lost. With his plans completely extinguished, he could only watch as the sphere of light created by the Apocalyptico spell bore down upon his helpless character.

"YOOOOOUUUUUUU!" Le Fay cursed, his rage leaving him unable to say anything more as the spell struck his character, exploding on impact and reducing his virtual body to a smattering of pixels.

The moment Le Fay's body disintegrated the wave of energy turned back imploding into nothing but a small burst of sparks. And with that, it was over, leaving only Kim and the others standing inside the cave.

"Okay…I want a show of hands here," Ron announced, breaking the silent awe of the moment. "Who HONESTLY didn't have fun?"

Wizard Max merely smiled while Fighter Max couldn't help but chuckle at Ron's comment. Everyone else found themselves unable to come up with an answer, although Kim couldn't help the smirk that found itself crossing her lips.

* * *

A brief flash later and Kim, Ron and Max found themselves back in Everlot Inc. After giving themselves a quick check to make sure their bodies were working 100 percent, they finally glanced over to see Wade and Rufus by the connected laptops.

"Looks like you made it out," Wade announced. "Are you guys alright?"

"I will be in a minute," Kim replied, jumping into Ron's lap, in the neighboring chair and kissing him deeply, putting her arms around his neck.

Once again, Ron found himself surprised, but he quickly adjusted as he soon began kissing Kim back, sliding his arms in around her waist. And just like so many times before, the kiss lasted for several moments before Kim slowly pulled away.

"Ah…that's more like it. I tell you, NOTHING beats the real thing," Kim sighed, pressing her forehead to Ron's and gently sliding her finger along his chin. "Especially without those teeth getting in the way."

Max could only chuckle in response as Wade and Rufus had nothing to say in reply. They simply walked out of the room, more than happy to let Kim and Ron have their few minutes of cuddle time in the chair privately.

* * *

"RRRRRAAAAAAH! AGAIN!" Le Fay raged, unleashing a torrential wind that blew the belongings of his host around the room. "Again, I've faced defeat at their hands! How?! How did they DO it?! I had EVERY POSSIBLE ADVANTAGE and STILL they found a way!"

Just then, Le Fay was taken out of his tantrum a loud crash from outside as Global Justice Agents kicked down the front door of the house his host was living in. As Agents swarmed in, they noticed a female quietly conducting housework in the living room. Ignoring the Agents completely, she seemed oblivious to everything, her eyes glazed over with a mystical glitter around them.

Hearing the commotion of Agents charging up the stairs, Le Fay knew he had to act fast. Racing to the window of his room, the tore open the curtains and threw open the window, looking around for some way to escape. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he chanced to spot a neighbor in the back yard, relaxing in his hammock.

"Hey!" he called out, getting the neighbor's attention. "Catch!"

The neighbor could only look on, perplexed as Le Fay tossed his staff out the window towards him. But as the staff landed in his hands, the Le Fay spirit took control of his body and a wicked smirk crossed his lips. Rolling out of the hammock, the new Le Fay beat a hasty retreat as Global Justice burst into the former Le Fay's room.

"Freeze!" the lead Agent cried out as Agents swarmed into the room, stop-watches at the ready. But what they discovered was only bewilderment as their target appeared to be none other than a small boy, barely older than 12, with blonde hair and freckles.

"Huh?! Huh?! Huh?!" the boy could only blurt out in confusion and fear as he found himself trying to figure out where exactly he was and why men and women in blue jumpsuits were pointing watches at him.

"Unnhh…," the woman from downstairs muttered, freed from her enchantment, only to be equally baffled as she walked into the room and discovered the scene playing out before her. "I'm…sorry. Aren't you all a little old to be friends of my son's?"

The Agents had no real answer to give. They could only look at each other with perplexity and more than a little embarrassment.

* * *

"So anyway, GJ found out where Le Fay was hiding. But by the time they got there, she'd already possessed someone else and got away," Kim reviewed as she sat with Ron, Rufus, Monique, Zita and Felix around Felix's kitchen table, hoping to get in at least a few more hands before the night was over.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised," Max noted, seated away from the table. "I knew they weren't gonna find her."

"So let me ask you something, 'Your Highness'," Zita inquired in Max's direction, making reference to his Wizard character. "If you had an Everlot guy that powerful in your back pocket the whole time, why didn't you just go in there, guns blazing, right from the start?"

"You want to field this one?" Max responded in Kim's direction. "You know, since you're starting to do such a great job keeping pace and all."

"Because…if Le Fay found out that Max had that kind of horsepower, she would have just triggered the virus with us still in the game and ended it right there," Kim explained. "This way, she thought she had enough of an advantage that she could keep stringing us along…which bought enough time for Lucre to find the virus and take it out of the equation."

"So what's GJ going to do with Lucre, now that he's helped them take out his own virus?" Ron wondered.

"Honestly, I really don't want to waste time thinking about it," Kim replied, dealing the cards around and looking at her hand. "So…who's in?"

* * *

"Steady…Steeaaadyyy…"

Silence permeated the room as a vine growing out from Dr. Drakken's neck wiped the sweat from his brow with a cloth, his hands being currently occupied. One, bracing his weight up on a lab table, the other trying desperately to keep from shaking. With a deep breath, Drakken reached down. And with the tiniest snip, he clipped a stray branch from his bonsai tree, ensuring that it stayed well-kept.

Drakken breathed a sigh of relief at his success, taking a moment to thank the vine poking out of his neck with a congratulatory handshake. One thing was for sure, the plant mutation he'd acquired had certainly made him better at multi-tasking. While Drakken was tending to his pruning, two other vines growing from him were actually conducting a delicate chemical experiment at a separate lab station. One more was dusting his shelves while yet another was sweeping the floors. And at the same time, another vine was peering outside the door of his lab before slithering back to tap him on the shoulder.

"Yes, Number Six," Drakken inquired as the vine motioned towards the door.

Curious, Drakken called back his remaining vines, heading out of his lab. But as he proceeded down the hall, he heard a familiar voice that made his heart race with dread. And as he walked into the main part of his lab, sure enough, sitting next to Shego and talking up a storm was Frugal Lucre himself.

"Heeeeey, there's the guy I want to see!" Lucre exclaimed, noticing Drakken walk in while Shego smirked in amusement. "Now I know what you're thinkin'…'How did you get out of prison', right? Funny story. I did some volunteer work for Global Justice and they swung me an early parole. Isn't that great?!"

"Oh…that's…just…peachy. Isn't that peachy, Shego? Uh…would you excuse us a moment?" Drakken replied through clenched teeth before taking Shego aside, whispering to her venomously. "Shego, what are you doing? Have you forgotten how annoying he is?!"

"Hel-LO! Why do you THINK I let him in?" Shego replied with a sly grin. "Seriously, have you learned NOTHING about me after all this time?"

"Hey! You guys done?!" Lucre interrupted, throwing his arm around Drakken's shoulder. "Great! Now I can get on with the story. Trust me, you are gonna get such a kick out of this. Okay, it all started two weeks ago. I was in my cell with this annoying blabbermouth…he said he's related to you, though personally, I don't see the resemblance…when one of the guards…his name is Chuck, by the way. Really nice fella…He builds model trains and volunteers at the local youth center on Sundays…"

That was as far as Lucre got with his story before Drakken could take no more. At that moment, two vines sprung from his neck and jammed into his ears, muffling all sounds. Frowning in disapproval, there seemed to be nothing more he could do but wait it out and hope that eventually, Lucre managed to talk himself in unconsciousness.

"Hey, you guys want to see something neat?" Lucre announced after a while, bounding over to Drakken's computer and firing up Everlot.

"You want to use a massive supercomputer to play some silly online game?" Drakken scolded disapprovingly.

"Give it a chance, I promise, it'll grow on you." Lucre assured, taking a moment to send his own character wandering through the environment.

At first, Drakken didn't see anything special. But a few moments later, Lucre found his character wandering through a small village and happened upon notice board.

"Ooo, see this? This is where you get all the up-to-date info on what's going on in all the realms. Like this one here, check it out," Lucre explained before calling up an announcement that featured pictures of Kim and the others as their Everlot characters.

"See? 'Kim Possible and Party team up with Everlot Elite to save the Realm from Troll Gamer'," Lucre recited, reading the headline of the notice. "Funny thing, this goes back to the story I was telling you already. See, what happened was…"

Just then, Lucre's words were cut off as the screen went black. Noticing that the entire computer had shut down, Lucre whirled around to see Shego standing by where the computer was plugged in, the power cord dangling around her ankle.

"Hey!" Lucre protested.

"Don't, okay?" Shego interrupted, making it clear that she had more than one objection to that particular announcement Lucre was viewing. "Just…don't."

With that, Shego walked out of the room. Drakken then proceeded to his lab, partially in relief that Shego had interrupted Lucre, thus incidentally providing him with an opportunity to escape. Lucre, meanwhile, could only sit at the computer blinking wide-eyed at the now-empty room and shrugging his shoulders.

"What?"

The End


End file.
